Lunch is a hard time for parents.
Whether your kids are in school or at home, you want to provide them with something quick, healthy, and sustaining. Oh, and it has to be something they actually eat! In the early days of the blog, our founder Tricia shared some of the recipes and ideas that worked for her when she had two littles at home. We have combined her ideas with our newer recipes and resources to give you an ultimate kid-friendly lunch recipes list.
Tricia’s Family Favorites
- Chicken fingers – Baked Chicken Nuggets, Gluten Free Dairy Free Honey Mustard Chicken Strips, or Paleo Ranch Chicken Nuggets
- Healthy Fish Sticks
- Individual Mac and Cheese
- Pizza (or see our 31 DIY Frozen Pizza Recipes)
- Grilled Cheese Rolls
- Peanut butter and jelly – Homemade Uncrustables
- Cheesy Ham Biscuit Muffins
- Pasta – Healthy Hidden Veggie Pasta, Homemade Spaghetti-O’s and Meatballs, Skillet Mac and Cheese
- Corn Dog Muffins
- Deli meat sandwiches or rolls – Mexican Turkey Tortilla Roll-Ups, Buffalo Chicken Wraps
- Homemade hot pockets – Ham and Potato Pockets Revisited
- Thermos Macaroni and Cheese (for lunch boxes)
- Homemade Cheesy Rice
- Toddler Pizza Croissants
- Toddler Mini Meatloaf
- Homemade Pop-Tarts
- Toddler French Toast Sticks
- Fruity Breakfast Burritos
Tip from Tricia: Breakfast recipes pull double and triple duty as lunches or even snacks!
Tricia’s Side Dish Ideas
- Sliced avocado
- Broccoli (favorite!)
- Lima beans (favorite!)
- Corn
- Mixed vegetables
- California blend vegetables
- Carrots
- Peas
- Peaches
- Pears
- Blueberries
- Grapes
- Bananas
- Cheez-Its
- Veggie chips/fries
- Applesauce
- Sliced apples
- Oranges
Tricia’s Sample Meal Plan
- Monday – Meatballs (I’m having guests, so the adults will eat meatball sandwiches), french fries, grapes
- Tuesday – Fish sticks, California mix vegetables, apple slices
- Wednesday – Peanut butter and jelly, applesauce, mixed vegetables
- Thursday – Individual Mac and Cheese, green beans, oranges
- Friday – Chicken fingers, broccoli, canned peaches
More Kid-Friendly Resources
It is a huge help to take a peek into someone else’s kitchen, but here are some more ideas and resources from which to pull. See what works for you!
- Newly updated Baby/Toddler Series
- Baby and Toddler Full and Mini Meal Plans
- 25 Lunch Box Freezer Recipes
- 10 Winning School Lunch Ideas
- How to Pack School Lunches with Freezer Meals
- 31 Back to School Freezer Meals
- Kid-Friendly Freezer Meals for Summer Vacation
Make a Meal Plan With These Recipes!
With membership*, you have access to all our recipes (including these!) and ALL our meal plans! You can customize one of our already curated meal plans, or create your own from scratch!
You’re not locked into any one meal plan type. You can save up to 12 customized meal plans at a time and there is no limit to how many you can customize in a month.
LEARN MORE TRY A FREE MEAL PLAN
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More Back-to-School resources:
